The Spectator

School portraits | 6 September 2018

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    Bath Academy   Based in the beautiful city of Bath, this tutorial college is one of very few in the south-west to offer flexible academic programmes for a wide range of students. As well as being a sixth-form college, Bath Academy also offers GCSE courses, revision courses and resits in a wide range

School report | 6 September 2018

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    MAKING THE GRADES   When he was education secretary, Michael Gove took it upon himself to reform the GCSE exam system. The A* to G grading system was replaced by a numerical one, with the aim of making it easier to differentiate between the top candidates — A* and A grades were, for

Letters | 30 August 2018

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Venezuelan sanctions Sir: Contrary to the impression given by Jason Mitchell, Venezuela does not have a socialist economy (‘Maduro’s madness’, 25 August). It has a ‘mixed’ economy (and therein lies some of its problems; such as food hoarding by private companies hostile to the regime). The private sector is large, and involved in numerous sectors within

Into Africa

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On her tour of South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, Theresa May finally made a positive case for Brexit. For too long her government has tried simply to salvage what they can of Britain’s trading relationship with the EU, overlooking the possibilities that Brexit offers to build trading relations with the wider world.  The tone of

to 2371: In a paddy

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The unclued lights and those clued without thematic definition (2, 11, 26, 33 and 42) are Irish forenames. Nuala Considine’s crossword compiling career spanned over 70 years. Doc was privileged to meet her five years ago when Saga magazine invited five British compilers to a photoshoot to accompany an article about the hundredth anniversary of the

The facts about the Venezuelan economy

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Contrary to the impression given by Jason Mitchell, Venezuela does not have a socialist economy (‘Maduro’s madness’, 25 August). It has a ‘mixed’ economy (and therein lies some of its problems; such as food hoarding by private companies hostile to the regime). The private sector is large, and involved in numerous sectors within the economy;

Letters | 23 August 2018

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Not up to snuff Sir: The country is indeed crying out for expertise, as James Ball and Andrew Greenway wrote last week (‘The rise of the bluffocracy’, 18 August). But the main problem is with the civil service, not politicians. The civil service has traditionally wanted experts to be ‘on tap, not on top’. This

When fear fails

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Economies run on confidence — as Franklin D. Roosevelt observed when he told Americans, in his first inaugural address during the depths of the Great Depression in 1933, that they had ‘nothing to fear except fear itself’. If that confidence is lost, if people collectively start drawing in their horns, squirrelling money away because they

Portrait of the week | 23 August 2018

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Home Government finances were in surplus by £2 billion in July. Public sector net debt rose to £1,777.5 billion, equal to 84.3 per cent of GDP, £17.5 billion more than a year before, but less as a proportion of GDP than last year’s 86 per cent. Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, flew to Washington and made a speech

to 2370: Problem XII

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The numbers were linked to titles of classic works of FICTION (12): The Two DROVERS (26) (Walter Scott), The Three MUSKETEERS (1D) (Alexandre Dumas (père)), The Thirty-Nine STEPS (34) (John Buchan), The Five RED HERRINGS (36D/5A) (Dorothy L. Sayers), Eight COUSINS (15D) (Louisa M. Alcott) and Five WEEKS IN A BALLOON (14/20) (Jules Verne). 2 x

Barometer | 16 August 2018

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Black list Jeremy Corbyn was attacked for attending a ceremony for members of Black September, the terrorist group which carried out the Munich Olympics massacre in 1972. The group took its name from a PLO terror campaign in Jordan two years earlier. Some other black months: Black January: Soviet crackdown against Azerbaijani independence, 1990 Black

Portrait of the Week – 16 August 2018

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Home Unemployment fell by 65,000 to 1.36 million — at 4 per cent the lowest level since 1975. The economy in the United Kingdom grew by 0.4 per cent in the second quarter, compared with 0.2 per cent in the first. The rate of inflation rose a jot from 2.4 to 2.5 per cent, measured

The futility of terror

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By now, the routine is familiar: a lone wolf strikes, roads are sealed off, buildings locked down and a biographical picture begins to emerge. Often, the perpetrator turns out to be born and bred in Britain. His astonished friends and neighbours say they saw no signs that he had succumbed to fanaticism. It later emerges

to 2369: Prodigious

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WUNDERKIND — given by corrections of misprints in clues — can be read as W UNDER KIND, indicating the unclued lights in each of four columns. First prize Cathy Staveley, London SW15 Runners-up Frank Anstis, Truro, Cornwall; S.J.J. Tiffin, Cockermouth, Cumbria

2018 finalists – Scotland and Northern Ireland

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  Amiqus ID is an encrypted online system for client-onboarding and transaction checks, with the intention of tackling cyber risk and money laundering.   Avocet Infinite makes use of a ‘unique hydroponic system’ to produce fodder to grow ideal barley for cows.   See.Sense makes ACE, an award-winning smart bike light that uses advanced sensor